It is desirable for custom installers of home entertainment systems to provide system-wide interfaces so that a user can easily and conveniently control system components using a single interface. For example, a system-wide control interface might be a touch-screen LCD controller that is capable of operating all components in a home theater such as lighting, curtains, TV, video disk player, audio video (AV) receiver, etc. Typically, however, each component may be designed with its own unique communication interface, e.g., infrared (IR) for a TV, RS-232 interfaces for other components, radiofrequency (RF) interfaces for yet other components, and so on.
Accordingly, a custom installer must use any and all of these interfaces to control a system or systems of disparate components within the home entertainment system. To control IR devices like a TV, add-on transmitters such as so-called “IR blasters” have been provided which are taped to the front of the TV and other components, an inelegant solution at best, since something has to be taped to the TV or other components with a wire visibly leading elsewhere. Also IR blasters are strictly a unidirectional communication scheme only. Communication electronic control (CEC)-enabled components alleviate some of the difficulties implicated by heterogeneity within the system but not all components are CEC-enabled.